One of the highlights of many student's semesters is Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. The first chance and opportunity that students have to see their parents in the eight weeks since school has started. The weekend consists of a number of events, alumni reunions, speaker series, and hockey games.

:Here's a brief overview of some of the events:

Golden Circle

The Golden Circle 50 Year Reunion is a large reception celebrating all of RIT's 50+ year alums. Since RIT's campus moved 48 years ago to its current location, many of these RIT alumni haven't even seen the brand "new" campus! The alumni toured the new campus, then attended a reception with food and a medaling ceremony to honor their 50th year reunion. We also had some older grads attend, some having graduated over 60 years ago!

Food Trucks

There were fun events for families this year, including a visit from some food trucks. Le Petit Poutine (this is a classic canadian treat!), a Greek Food Truck, and a "Healthy" food truck with salads were all in attendance.

Make a Tiger

Many enjoyed a Build-A-Bear style Make-A-Tiger featuring adorable tigers that you could stuff yourself! They even came with little RIT Brick City Homecoming t-shirts.

Paint Night

The paint night event was an event where families could go and follow a "Painting with a Twist" style painting activity, learning how to paint landscapes on a record. There were two very full sessions of this fun family-bonding event!

Dueling Pianos

A personal favorite of mine was Dueling Pianos. This is a super-fun, audience led, high-energy show! This show features two pianists who can play virtually anything that is handed to them! From Disney songs, to Taylor Swift, to 18 Wheels on the Big Rig, to Queen, the night was full of tons of fun and audience participation! I highly recommend this show to EVERY RIT student, and they come every year for Brick City Homecoming.

Presidents' Alumni Ball

The Presidents' Alumni Ball is when the RIT community and alumni gather to honor the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year, and RIT's Volunteer of the Year. While this event is mainly open to alumni, many times, students will get invited by their academic department to attend the ball. The ball is a fantastic event with a 360º camera, arcade games, presentations and displays by students, a fancy dinner, and of course, the awards ceremony!

Pumpkin Chunkin'

A showcase of what Engineering Technology students have been working on this semester, Pumpkin Chunkin' is an event to see how far teams can "chunk" pumpkins across the lawn. From catapults to slingshots, this is a fun event to drop by!

Presidents' Address to the Community

On Saturday morning, President Destler gives an address to the RIT community, highlighting the major accomplishments of RIT over the past year, and highlighting goals for the future. This year was a particularly meaningful year, as this is President Destler's last year as President of RIT.

Zootopia

Have you seen the Disney movie Zootopia? Well, an RIT grad was actually heavily involved with the creation of that movie, and there were special screenings of the movie with a post-movie Q&A from the RIT grad that made a lot of it happen!

Horton Speaker

Every year, Student Government hosts the Horton Speaker series on campus. This brings in a distinguished speaker to speak about their experience. This year, the Horton Speaker was Brandon Stanton, Founder of the popular blog, Humans of New York. With over 20 million followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Brandon tells the stories of humans in NY, shedding light on their delights and struggles. He was a fascinating person to meet and learn from!

Hockey Games

You can’t forget about the hockey games! A staple of the Brick City Homecoming weekend, the hockey games bring the RIT community together. This year, the women's hockey team played on Friday and Saturday on RIT's campus in the Gene Polisseni Center. On Saturday evening, the men's hockey team played downtown in Blue Cross Arena, to a sold out crowd of over 10,000 people!

It was a great weekend! So many fun events, and next year will offer the same number of awesome events for members and friends of the RIT community.

RIT and the city of Rochester both have a ton of activities to keep you busy on the weekends. Throughout the year there are countless museums, parks, festivals (Imagine RIT, Freeze Fest, and Spring Fest on campus; Fringe Fest, Jazz Fest, and Lilac Fest in downtown Rochester), and enough concerts to keep any college student busy. CAB (College Activities Board) hosts events both on and off campus such as comedians, free movies on Thursday nights, and bus trips to local amusement parks. However, after almost four years at RIT, there are times I want to venture beyond Rochester to see what the surrounding area has to offer.

Within 120 miles, or about a two hour drive, there are countless places that make both a great day or weekend trip for those looking for some well deserved down time. Here are a few places I've visited over the last four years I've been here.

Finger Lakes (1 Hour)

One of the best sights in the entire northeast! Not only are the Finger Lakes a great location for a lake day, but the region is also known worldwide for its fantastic viniculture. Nothing is better than spending the day on a rented boat with friends. Last but not least, finish the day watching the sun set over the rolling hills of upstate New York.

Niagara Falls, Canada (1 Hour 40 Minutes)

While I have only been to the American side when I was much younger, I’m actually driving up to the Canadian (and arguably much better) side soon for a friend's birthday! With great restaurants, sights, and casinos, it's a great way to spend a weekend to get away from it all.

Bristol Mountain (50 Minutes)

My home away from home. When I came to RIT I initially thought the skiing was going to be top notch due to the amount of snow. Unfortunately the terrain isn't as similar to Vermont (still only a 6 hour ride for the diehards like myself) as I thought, but Bristol Mountain Ski/Snowboard resort is the next best thing. With over 30 trails and night skiing, it's the best place to get in a few runs after class or on the weekend with friends.

Buffalo Bills / Sabres Games (1 Hour 20 Min)

Hey, hey hey, hey, let's go Buffalo! Although I'm a NY Jets fan, driving out to Orchard Park to see Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills one cold Sunday morning this past winter was a great way to spend the day. If you like hockey, Buffalo is also home to the Sabres, who play downtown at the First Niagara Center.

Letchworth / Watkins Glen State Park (45 Min / 1 Hour 30 Min)

Last, but certainly not least are two state parks that are only a quick drive away. Watkins Glen was actually rated the number one state park in the entire country and it lives up to its name. At the base of the Finger Lakes, these natural waterfalls flow for miles and it's great to snap some photos and hike alongside them. Letchworth is a fair bit closer and showcases great landscapes and a dam built by the Army Corps of Engineers. Best to visit when the leaves are changing in the fall!

A few weeks into spring semester, the College Activities Board at RIT hosts FreezeFest. What is FreezeFest? FreezeFest is a week-long series of winter-themed events for students to enjoy with tons of free giveaways. Some of the events included Chocolate on Ice, comedians, a showing of a winter-themed movie (this year was Happy Feet), the FreezeFest 5k, and a festival with face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, and caricatures.

This year my friend (and co-worker at admissions), Helen, and I entered the FreezeFest Ice Sculpture Design Contest. Contestants submitted designs to the College Activities Board, who then forwarded them to a professional ice sculptor. The winning designs were picked based on creativity, and practicality. First prize included tickets to the comedian, as well as the excitement of having your designs made into ICE. Runners up received FreezeFest apparel and prizes.

Much to our surprise, Helen and I were announced as two of three winners of the contest!!!! The ice sculptor took some of his favorite parts of our designs and that from a similar design submitted by the other winner and made them into one sweet sculpture. Helen and I exchanged our prize tickets for FreezeFest apparel, which is what we wanted all along. RIT students LOVE FreezeFest apparel. Throughout the days leading up to FreezeFest, CAB will post clues leading to locations of potential giveaways. Within minutes, students form massive lines in the hope of receiving some FreezeFest prizes. Each year, there are usually hats, gloves, shirts, and another couple of varying prizes. This year, the special prizes were FreezeFest mugs and blankets. I've waited in numerous lines, in the hopes of receiving a hat or shirt. Finally, I have some gear I can call my own.

As many may know, Chinese New Year was Monday, February 8th, 2016. A lot of associations around campus gathered to celebrate it. This past Thursday, the Department of Modern Languages hosted a Chinese New Year Celebration.

There was a lot of free food, much of which I have tried in the past. There was some fried rice, white rice, shrimp egg rolls, chicken dumplings, sesame chicken and much more. Aside from the free delicious food, there were a lot of mini-events happening too. Students could explore and learn how to use chopsticks or practice calligraphy. One table was set up for a paper art craft. It was really interesting. The prompts had you cut out certain shapes and fold the paper in certain ways, which created the character for spring when you were finished.

With all the buzz and festivities, what really lit up the night was the lion dance show they hosted. It was interesting to see the lion taunt all the audience. There were also drums, cymbals, and a gong to accompany the dance. Usually, it's a tradition to feed the lion lettuce or red envelopes for good luck. At one moment, one of the students did actually try to feed him. The lion had a very sassy way of dancing and a joyful attitude. All in all, I had a very eventful night and I am glad RIT was able to share this event with me.

I have been in Rochester for 4 years but this is my first time going to Fringe Festival. Fringe Festival is held in September annually in downtown Rochester. Many performances are gathering here to perform their shows and arts. If you wonder why it is called Fringe Festival as I did, here is the explanation I found on the City of Rochester website:

“In 1947, eight theatre groups turned up – uninvited – to perform at the newly established Edinburgh International Festival. The groups performed at venues they arranged themselves. The following year, Scottish journalist Robert Kemp coined the term “fringe festival” to describe these renegade performers. Today, there are more than 200 fringe festivals worldwide, with over 20 existing within North America, including Toronto, New York City, Hollywood, Chicago, and Orlando. Each fringe festival is a creative and economic engine for its host communities.” — http://www.cityofrochester.gov/RochesterFringe/

RIT is also one of the sponsors for Rochester Fringe Festival and many RIT staff, faculty and students perform in this festival. Our president Dr. Destler also performed this year. We have singers, poetry, photo exhibitions and many other shows offered there. One performance I experienced there was Brick City Singers. Brick City Singers is RIT’s all-male a cappella group and Hawaiian shirt enthusiasts perform a broad repertoire of “good time” music with some wacky antics and amusing skits. I went to the Little Theater on Saturday afternoon around 3:30 and the cafe was already fully packed with audience members. After ordering a cup of coffee, we sat and waited for the show to begin. Around 4 pm fifteen RIT students came onstage with colorful Hawaiian shirts and the show began. They have no instruments so the whole music is their voice which is so beautiful. I feel like I’m in a wonderland with no stress. They performed 4 songs and also a birthday song for a birthday girl at the cafe that day. All the audience gave them a big round of applause.

Rochester Fringe Festival is also a very good opportunity for RIT students to show our colorful school life and let Rochester residents see more aspects about RIT students.

Recently RIT's College Activities Board held it's annual FreezeFest. "The goal of the FreezeFest initiative is to provide a unique festival that celebrates Rochester's cold and snowy months. Since its inception in 2010, FreezeFest has brought students, friends, family and the RIT community at large together for an assortment of winter themed programs and events."( https://campuslife.rit.edu/freezefest/)

One of the events that I participated in this year was the freeze fest 5k. This was my second year doing the FreezeFest 5k, and I plan to keep the tradition going until I graduate.

The race starts behind Grace Watson Hall, and follows the road past the Gene Polisseni Center and towards global village. In Global, we cut in and run back towards Grace Watson on the Quartermile. There's a short detour back towards the field house, and then you finish back at the start behind the res halls.

The temperature was in the mid-high 20s for the race – which felt so nice compared to the single digits earlier in the week.

The top 200 finishers got free FreezeFest shirts. The turn out wasn't as great as last year, but there was still a pretty decent number for this year's race. I was so excited to get a shirt when I finished.

Chinese new year is also called Spring Festival. This year the chinese new year will be this week February 18th.

For me this will be the 6th Chinese new year I haven’t been at home with my family. I miss them but it is also happy that I can celebrate Chinese new year with my friends here. Here is a little introduction for you who may not know what is a Chinese new year.

Spring Festival is the most important festival in China .It’s to celebrate the lunar calendar’s new year. In the evening before the Spring Festival, families get together and have a big meal. In many places people like to set off firecrackers after dinner or at midnight. Dumplings are the most traditional food .Children like the festival very much, because they can have delicious food and wear new clothes. They can also get some money from their parents. This money is given to children for good luck. People put New Year scrolls on the wall for good fortune.

The Spring Festival lasts about 15 days long .People visit relatives and friends with the words “Have all your wishes ”.People enjoy the Spring Festival ,during this time they can have a good rest .

This year I will making homemade dumplings with my friends and watching the celebration TV shown. Wish all the best!

“What I’ve learned is that you can always add new skill sets at any point of your life”. -Dr. Sanjay Gupta This year for our Brick City Homecoming Horton Speaker Series, Dr. Sanjay Gupta came to give a talk about what he has learned in his life. I had the opportunity to attend his speech, and I was really inspired by his story and some of the experiences that he has had in his life.

Sanjay Gupta is the head medical correspondent for CNN and a neurosurgeon. He has completed documentaries and is known worldwide for his coverage in many war zones. Dr. Gupta was an amazing storyteller.

He told us about the day he was eating birthday cake in the studio and they went live while he still had cake in his mouth—fittingly the segment they were filming that day was on childhood obesity.

He told us about the time he saved the life of a solider while he was covering the war in the Middle East. Dr. Gupta drilled into the soldier’s brain to relieve the pressure caused by swelling from the bullet. He had to perform this operation with the drills they used to set up the tents earlier that day.

While Dr. Gupta has done a number of amazing things, what really stood out to me in his speech was his stance on life. He talked about opportunities; how opportunities will present themselves and how you need to take advantage of them. He talked about learning something for the sake of learning. He talked about the importance of broadening your scope, and exercising your brain with something you’ve never done before. Dr. Gupta definitely practices what he preaches, which is probably why he is such a success (and he's only 45 years old at that).

I loved Dr. Gupta’s speech because it was relevant to everyone who was sitting in the room. Especially for the college students. College is such a great time to try a bunch of new things. A great time to really put yourself out there. Join a new club, read a book, try something that will challenge you, take a class you wouldn’t have ever thought you would take—work hard and seize opportunities. The possibilities are endless!

It’s been just a few days since the first annual OneSpiRIT Global Hockey Festival, and the electricity is still in the air. For those of you who don’t know what OneSpiRIT is or where it came from, allow me to give some context. The planning for OneSpiRIT began over the summer in the office of Dr. James Watters, Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration, but quickly incorporated almost every other department, administration and student-led alike. The name “OneSpiRIT” actually came from one of our international students who believed that despite the geographical differences, RIT has one spirit. And after months of planning, the event went off with a bang. There were hamster ball races, a rockwall, human foosball, ladderball, and of course cornhole. There was live music all day long, and some great barbecue food too. There was even an international lounge in which students could interact with their international peers through Cisco computers. The coolest part of the day was at the Women’s Hockey game. Over 1000 students helped produce two “card stunts”; one saying “One SpiRIT” the other saying “Go Tigers”. All in all the event was a huge success. Over 1500 students attended the festivities at the Henrietta campus alone, and a record breaking 3400 people attended the Men’s Hockey game that night. OneSpiRIT succeeded not only in engaging the entire RIT student body, but in bringing that body, and spirit, closer together.

Hey guys! I spent last weekend at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in, you guessed it, Ottwawa, Canada. HOWEVER, the road to Ottawa was a treachourous one. Our tale begins at 11am last Friday. My merry band of animators set out from RIT in a Ford Escape. We printed out directions on mapquest, which said to head East. Our GPS said to head West. And that was the last time we trusted technology over logic. Anyone who understands geography or can read a map can tell you the fastest way to get between two cities is to move in a straight line. While the road from Rochester to Ottawa is not perfectly straight, it is significantly quicker than the 12 hour roundabout journey we took through Toronto. The capstone of our journey occured in that fateful city. I've been there twice before this visit, and knew of a hotel that could give us directions. It was about 4pm at this point. We walked up to the concierge desk, and tried our best not to come off as "obviously lost". That facade died the minute we asked "How do we get to Ottawa from here?" The concierge sat back, looked up, and replied with a confused, "today?" We finally got to Ottawa Friday night at 10:30pm, and it was AMAZING. I met animators and directors from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney. I saw screenings of new animated shorts, international films, and some of the best student work out there. All of that thanks to a free pass I won from my college! The point of all this is that there are incredible opportunities to try new things at RIT. Just keep your ears open and your eyes peeled. You can start a business, travel to new cities, and if you want, go tour the country of Canada in the back of a Ford Escape.